Two Obongi district officials and a contractor are in police custody for allegedly diverting 74 million shillings under the Development Response to Displacement Impact Project (DRDIP).
The suspects Ivan Opio Onapa, the District Engineer, Geoffrey Tako, the Desk Officer for the Development Response to Displacement Impact Project (DRDIP), and Martin Fisher, were arrested on Wednesday on orders of Dr. Patricia Achan Okiria, the Deputy Inspector General of Government following numerous complaints from the community members.
The officials are accused of colluding with the contractor to change the approved standard Plans of construction of the doctors’ house at Itula Health Centre III and diverting funds to an unapproved sub-project contrary to the DRDIP Operations Manual.
“They changed the solid concrete walling to brick walling, the steel roofing works to timber roofing works, and never carried out test results for the ring beam, concrete bases, and column stubs”, reads the statement in parts.
Preliminary investigation reports indicate that district officials inflated the payment for the construction of the Doctor’s house at Itula Health Centre III from 91.2 million shillings to 113.8 million shillings hence causing a financial loss of 22.6 million shillings.
Further investigations reveal that Geoffrey Tako, the Desk Officer for the Development Response to Displacement Impact Project (DRDIP) diverted 52 million shillings meant for Yenga Cooked Stove and Briquettes sub-project to another unapproved sub-project without following the stipulated procedure.
The suspects who are currently being detained at Kampala Central Police Station will be arraigned before the Anti-Corruption Court on Thursday.
The Development Response to Displacement Impacts Project (DRDIP) which was launched in July 2017, was designed to provide development and direct income support to the poor and vulnerable within refugee hosting districts to improve access to basic social services, expand economic opportunities, and enhance environmental management.
